Leading Scottish c-store operator David Sands has signalled its intentions to expand by moving into a new £1.5m warehouse and head office at Kinross, Tayside.
Nisa member Sands, widely recognised as one of the UK’s most progressive convenience store chains with an annual turnover approaching £20m, boasts a current store portfolio of 18 outlets across in Fife, Kinross and Perthshire. A further two are set to come on stream before the end of the year, one of which is a new-build store in Burntisland.
The 27,000sq ft warehouse at Bridgend Industrial Estate also incorporates some 8,000sq ft of office space for administrative, buying and operational staff, and the group’s training centre.
Managing director David Sands said: “As the company has grown over the years, so have our stores and we have expanded them by converting storage space into more profitable selling space. “Today, our new warehouse is, in effect, one big storage area for each store and we are delivering to most of them up to seven days a week. We can now be even more efficient and focused on their requirements on a daily basis.
“Our strategy is very much one of growth and we now have the infrastructure and IT systems in place to forge ahead with new acquisitions, possibly even another convenience store chain.”
David was the first retailer in Scotland to introduce VoiteQ, the voice-based stock control system, at its former warehouse in Milnathort more than two years ago. This technology, which gives warehouse pickers spoken instructions on the top-up stock requirements of each company store - based on epos data - has now been fully incorporated within the new Kinross warehouse.
Nisa member Sands, widely recognised as one of the UK’s most progressive convenience store chains with an annual turnover approaching £20m, boasts a current store portfolio of 18 outlets across in Fife, Kinross and Perthshire. A further two are set to come on stream before the end of the year, one of which is a new-build store in Burntisland.
The 27,000sq ft warehouse at Bridgend Industrial Estate also incorporates some 8,000sq ft of office space for administrative, buying and operational staff, and the group’s training centre.
Managing director David Sands said: “As the company has grown over the years, so have our stores and we have expanded them by converting storage space into more profitable selling space. “Today, our new warehouse is, in effect, one big storage area for each store and we are delivering to most of them up to seven days a week. We can now be even more efficient and focused on their requirements on a daily basis.
“Our strategy is very much one of growth and we now have the infrastructure and IT systems in place to forge ahead with new acquisitions, possibly even another convenience store chain.”
David was the first retailer in Scotland to introduce VoiteQ, the voice-based stock control system, at its former warehouse in Milnathort more than two years ago. This technology, which gives warehouse pickers spoken instructions on the top-up stock requirements of each company store - based on epos data - has now been fully incorporated within the new Kinross warehouse.
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